Displaying the Magician's Art: Theatrical Illusion in Ingmar Bergman's 'The Magic Flute' (1975)

Abstract

Ingmar Bergman’s The Magic Flute is a film that not only represents a performance of Mozart’s opera but also reflects on the experience it generates in the theatrical audience. The opera becomes the means through which Bergman explores the magic of theatrical illusion by displaying the artifice behind it. I examine the film’s take on the representation of theatrical illusion from two perspectives. First, with reference to the famous sequence of the overture, I demonstrate the crucial role of the audience’s imaginative engagement. Second, I zero in onto Bergman’s role as know-it-all director who not only uncovers the artificiality of the theatrical source but plays tricks with the film audience. Yet observing the ‘constructed naturalness’ of the magic flute and Papageno or the theatricality of the Queen of the Night’s performance does not hinder the film’s ability to engage us. Witnessing the workings of illusion strengthens its grip on us.